It is often desirable to detect and analyze electromagnetic radiation (EMR) originating from an environment in order to gain knowledge about the environment. In the context of a vehicle, such as an aircraft, EMR may be received through a window of the vehicle, analyzed or otherwise processed, and the results of such analysis used to provide operational personnel with useful information regarding the environment outside the vehicle. In a commercial aviation context, such information may include the identification of potential landing sites, topography information, nearby aircraft, geographic landmarks, and the like. In a military aviation context such information may include the above, as well as identification of potential targets, identification of potential adversaries, and the like. At least in a military context, such sensing mechanisms typically have an ability to scan a field of view across in azimuth, and/or vertically in elevation, within a field-of-regard of the system. The sensing mechanisms typically involve a receive lens arrangement that focuses the energy, in the form of EMR in a desired wavelength, or band of wavelengths, to a sensor. The sensor quantifies the EMR received, and facilitates the generation of imagery of the environment.
It is known that a window that has a non-spherical shape introduces aberrations in EMR as the EMR passes through the window. In order to reduce or adjust for the aberrations, it is often necessary to position relatively complex and expensive lens arrangements between the window and the sensor to reduce the aberrations. Alternatively, windows are often designed to have spherical shapes. Unfortunately, a spherical shape is not an efficient aerodynamic shape, and can negatively impact speed, range, and other characteristics of the vehicle. Accordingly, in many applications, it would be desirable if a conformal, non-spherical window could be utilized without the need for relatively expensive and complex lens arrangements that are designed to reduce or correct the aberrated EMR.